This Monday morning, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier were still leading the fleet of Ultim maxi-trimarans in the Transat Jacques-Vabre. The first to suffer the throes of the Doldrums, the
Edmond de Rothschild
duo
had to deal with a still light wind (7-8 knots) in the northeast of Brazil. From 160 miles on Sunday evening, its lead over
SVR Lazartigue
fell to 99 miles this Monday at 9am. But François Gabart and Tom Laperche in turn slowed down (14 knots) and the gap could swell again if, as expected, Cammas and Caudrelier hit a stronger wind during the day.
Banque Populaire XI
, the other new maxi-trimaran in the race with
SVR Lazartigue
, is not very far behind (+116 miles).
Positioned further west, Armel Le Cléac'h and Kevin Escoffier were progressing faster than their predecessors (19 knots), with
Actual Ultim 3
in their wake (+170 miles).
Clouds and violent squalls
“
There are two things in the Doldrums, there is less wind and we can identify these areas thanks to the weather, and it is also a place that generates very active cloudy areas, than the weather. can't see at all because it grows like mushrooms, a little to the right to the left. We can therefore only negotiate them at the last moment. We are exposed to fairly violent squalls which can happen at any time so we have to be very vigilant, even more than usual,
”said Yves Le Blévec (
Actual
) at the morning session.
You have to find the right compromise between speed, safety, risk taking and not being in a windless area
. ”
A nice puzzle on the road to Trindade and Martim Vaz. Mandatory crossing point for Ultim, the Brazilian archipelago off Rio de Janeiro is located a little less than 1,500 miles from the first bows. And at 2,000 for Thomas Coville and Thomas Rouxel who bring up the rear on
Sodebo Ultim 3
after their repair stop in Madeira. A little further north, Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben (
Primonial
) can tackle the Doldrums with relative serenity - since Erwan Le Roux and Xavier Macaire (
Koesio
), their closest pursuers, are 200 miles behind. Remember that the Ocean Fifty, 15-meter trimarans, will only have to descend as far as Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian archipelago off Natal, before starting their ascent towards Fort-de-France.
In monohulls, the battle is still raging along the African coasts. Leaders, Thomas Rettant and Morgan Lagravière (
LinkedOut
) had only 3.2 miles ahead of Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat off Nouakchott. The
Apivia
duo
are positioned further west to approach the Cape Verde Islands. 3rd on
Charal
(+35 miles), Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt, for their part, chose a more
easterly
trajectory. Only 68 miles separate
LinkedOut
from
Initiatives-Cœur,
6th (Samantha Davies-Nicolas Lunven). In Class40, the gaps are also close in the Canaries. Antoine Carpentier and Pablo Santurde Del Arco (
Redman
) were 8.5 miles ahead of the Swiss duo Valentin Gautier-Simon Koster (
Banque du Léman
) and 11 over Jonas Gerckens and Benoît Hantzperg (
Volvo
).
The first six are held in about fifty miles.
Panting.